Now that the dust has settled on the 2011 summer transfer window, what did Stoke City fans think of the players they bought and sold? Metro spoke to Tom Mckeon of
Vital Stoke to find out.

Inspired? Crouch was a last-minute capture for Pulis (Picture: PA)How do you rate your signings?

To put it simply, they couldn’t have been better. Stoke have been very successful over the last few years with a solid system that works and we’ve managed to bring in players of great pedigree who will not only fit in with our team unit, but give us genuine footballing qualities.

Some people will look at Peter Crouchâs transfer to Stoke and make jokes about him and our style of play, but Stoke as a club are very similar to Crouch the player.

Looks can be deceiving; we all accept at Stoke that we are a big, strong team who have obvious qualities, but our footballing ability is often overlooked and Crouch’s ability on the deck far outweighs his aerial prowess.

Wilson Palacios was nothing short of awesome at Wigan and will become a massive player for Stoke. He possesses the battling qualities needed to play in our midfield, but he’s also proven his ability to make things happen when on the ball.

He was linked to Manchester United not so long ago and it was only this year he dominated the midfield for Spurs in their Champions league win away at AC Milan, so it’s fair to say it’s a very big coup for Tony Pulis and we’re all delighted with the signing.

There have been a few raised eyebrows over the signing of Cameron Jerome, but he could prove to be a very good investment in the long-term.

He struggled last year in a Birmingham team which was poor at creating chances but with Matt Etherington and Jermaine Pennant bombing down the wings, that wonât be an issue here.

He scored 11 goals in his first ever Premier League season and heâs still only 24, so the Â£4million fee we paid for his services could turn out to be fantastic value.

The signings of Matthew Upson, and especially Jonathan Woodgate will bring much-needed experience, and only strengthen an already scarily effective back-line.

What do you think of the player youâve sold?

We’ve kept a lot of our squad because of the big schedule we are facing with the addition of Europe this season, but we’ve done well to get rid of dead-wood such as Ibrahima Sonko.

Fan favourites Carl Dickinson and Abdoulaye Faye have also left. They’ve been magnificent servants for the football club, but we needed to move them on in order to progress, so the departures have been welcome.

Has your confidence in your manager’s ability in the transfer market increased or decreased this summer?

I’ve always had 100% faith in Pulis when it comes to transfer windows, he leaves it late, and that can frustrate some fans. But he ALWAYS delivers and improves the squad – he’s done that and more this summer.

Overall grade and summary

A – Only time will tell, but it promises to be a very exciting season if this transfer window is anything to go buy, we’ve bought very well and kept all of our star men.

The only qualm I would have with Pulis is that he didn’t bring in a back-up winger, but we have players who are more than capable of filling in when needed so overall – outstanding stuff from Pulis and our very generous chairman Peter Coates.

Stokies all around the globe have been left very excited by what we can achieve.